It’s summertime, and churches across Oklahoma are reaching families in their communities through Vacation Bible School (VBS). For one Oklahoma City church, reaching families came in the form of foster care families and their children.

On July 11-15, Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children (OBHC) and the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (BGCO) teamed up with Rancho Village, to host a specialized VBS for foster care families.

“When (OBHC’s) Teri Blanton was speaking to our congregation on Sanctity of Life Sunday, she mentioned the idea for this VBS,” said Floyd McKee, pastor of Rancho Village. “It was a no-brainer for our church to get involved in this event. If we can serve even one foster care family through this, it’s worth it.”

From donating water bottles and VBS supplies, to supplying 56 volunteers, 17 Oklahoma Baptist churches helped in the preparation and execution of the event, which served 13 families and 37 children.

The event was open to Southern Baptist families and also those not affiliated with a church. Among the families served were Scott and Sandy Teel of Oklahoma City, Southern Hills.

“To have help and support from the church and Oklahoma Baptists through this event is a real blessing,” said Sandy. “We were able to get our required training, while our child had a great time at VBS and learned about God.”

“While the kids were enjoying the great VBS programming and learning about God and how to be ‘submerged’ in God’s Word, foster care parents were able to receive their required 12 hours of training, courtesy of OBHC,” said Blanton, who serves as OBHC foster care coordinator.

The event featured various activities, including crafts, recreation, music, games, Bible lessons and a worship rally. Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief served meals each evening to attendees and volunteers.

Similar to the VBS at Rancho Village, Jenks, First will be the site for a weekend VBS, July 29-30, also designed to help foster care parents receive their annual training, while their foster children enjoy VBS.

“It is our prayer that, through this VBS and our other efforts, that foster families know how much we appreciate the sacrifices they are making each day,” Blanton said. “We are here to encourage them on their foster care journey!”

Blanton anticipates similar events to occur in the future, as part of the strategy to serve foster care families and foster care children in Oklahoma. For more information about OBHC’s foster care program, visit www.obhc.org/onesuchchild.

 According to one report, at least one of the children attending the event, a girl, accepted Christ.